What are your employees really worth?

When you’re reckoning up an employee’s value, the numbers only tell half of the story.

Metrics like sales or customers served are important — that’s what keeps you in business. And we know that keeping good people makes sense, if only to avoid the costs of staff turnover thousands of dollars in recruitment and staff training.

What’s missing, though, is the value that doesn’t show up in your balance sheets – at least not directly.

Some employees’ contributions do boost your bottom line. They give better service. They work faster. Then there are other employees who just make your life easier: you don’t know where you’d be without them.
Here are the qualities of employees who contribute the most to your business.

They support your company culture

Culture is so important to your business, especially for Gen Ys, who’ll soon make up nearly half of our workforce.

Equally important is the vision you have for your business and the way you want it to work. But you can’t be there all the time, or be the sole advocate for your company’s culture and values. You need your staff on board.

If teamwork and collaboration is at the heart of your company culture, look for staff to help foster this.

How do you find them? They’re the people who organise lunches, coffee runs, and make sure everyone gets included. They may not be a manager, but they help the team work better together by creating informal opportunities for people to get to know each other.

They’re an asset to your business because they keep others in the team happy and productive.

They make customers happy

In sectors like healthcare, childcare, retail and hospitality, staff with exceptional customer service skills are true gems.

Hold onto them, because a customer’s great experience with your staff will keep your customers coming back and spreading the word.

You can use your customer service superstars to encourage other team members too, by creating opportunities to share their successes.

For example, at the end of a shift, or in a regular staff meeting, you or your manager could share examples of great customer service with the team

Learning from peers shows your staff the practical ways they can improve in their day-to-day jobs. Acknowledging your customer service leaders also show you notice and appreciate their efforts.

They take initiative

Isn’t it great when you’re not the only person coming up with new ideas for your business?

When it comes to new ideas, the more the merrier. Each staff member might have dozens of ideas about your business, especially those who speak to customers everyday.

New restaurant menu not so popular? Your waitstaff can probably tell you this before the numbers do. That display in your pharmacy not selling? Your staff will see it before you the sales figures come through.

When your staff tell you about a problem and a suggested solution, you can tell they care and are invested in the business. You know you can trust them to do a great job, letting you focus on the bigger picture.

Keeping your best employees

Finding your most valuable staff members is the first step. We’ve previously provided a few tips on ways to encourage staff to stay.

If you feel like you don’t have enough time to invest and pay attention to your staff, don’t forget that EasyEMPLOYER can help free up more time in your day to work on the things that matter to you.